Kansas
by profhoogs
Summary: This is my first story, so please review with some constructive criticism. This is a story about Greg Sanders and an original character, and that's all you're going to get. Hee hee
1. Chapter 1

All right, hello everyone. Welcome to my first story. Here's where you find the normal disclaimers. No, I don't own CSI or any character or situation on the show. Some of the situations will be original, and there will be my original characters. The rating is for later on. Please read and enjoy.  
  
Gil Grissom, CSI night shift supervisor, walked down the corridor toward the DNA lab. He had some very important information to tell his shift's lab tech, Greg Sanders. Greg was getting a partner.  
  
Grissom peered into the lab and saw his lab tech dancing and doing a test at the same time. ~Hmm... Multitasking at its finest I suppose~ "Greg... Greg... GREG!"  
  
Greg whipped around and yanked the headphones from his ears. "Oh, hi boss, I didn't hear you."  
  
"I wonder why," his boss quickly quipped, "I have some news for you."  
  
Greg pondered for a moment and then a silly grin spread across his face, "What, the Mets won the World Series, the Giants won the Super Bowl, Celine Dion died, oh please."  
  
Grissom just stared at him with a "that was supposed to be funny" look, "Very funny Greg, but as much as we all wish the latter to happen, it won't. No, I'm here to tell you that we are getting a new member on the night crew."  
  
At this Greg sighed, throwing his arms into the air, "Great, another person to donate to the ever-growing pile of work on my desk. No offense boss, but I might need some help around here."  
  
"Well, that was exactly what I was here to talk to you about. The new crew member we're getting isn't a CSI, they're a lab tech just like you." Grissom pulled a paper out of the folder he was holding, "Let's see, Christopher Spiegel, 25 years old, a new graduate from the University of Kansas, a double major in Forensic Biology and Chemistry with a focus on organic chemistry."  
  
"Forensic Biology, I've never heard of that major."  
  
"He made it up, specialized degree. He's the only Forensic Biologist in the country, and he decided to come to our night shift. He actually specifically requested night shift, not the day shift."  
  
Greg sat down to think this through, a person specifically asked to be on the night shift at Las Vegas CSI. ~Weird, don't know what he was thinking~ "Wow, I guess that makes us kinda special doesn't it."  
  
Grissom looked down at the younger man and hurried on with what he was saying, "Yeah, but anyway, he's going to be here in about half an hour, and I'm going to show him around the lab first since this is where he will be working, and then I'll introduce him to the rest of the team, okay."  
  
"Yeah, sure." Greg answered, deep in his own thoughts. A new partner, what would he be like...  
  
There you have it, chapter number one. I'm sorry it's so short, but a KU game is coming on and they are playing Missouri. Please review if you want, and please give some constructive criticism. I would be eternally grateful.  
  
Thanks. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay in updating, Sunday was my birthday and yesterday I was up until 7 in the morning with my friend watching movies and six episodes of CSI Season 2.  
  
I'd like to thank the 3 people who replied to my story, Kaarin that's you too.  
  
Big thanks to Em. I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I plan to update as fast as I can think up the next addition to the plot line.  
  
To my other replier, last time I checked, boring didn't count as constructive criticism, but thank you for your time.  
  
The usual disclaimer, I only own my stuff. On with the story.  
  
Rating still doesn't apply, but it will later on. Please read and enjoy.  
  
A young girl walked up the CSI Security Desk. The guard looked up at her, she was a nice looking girl probably around 23 or so, nice hair, tall, with a slim but not too slim build.  
  
"Can I help you miss?"  
  
The girl looked kind of nervous, and she fidgeted a bit when he started talking to her, "Umm... Yeah, is Mr. Gil Grissom in?"  
  
The guard wondered why a girl her age would be wandering into crime lab at that time in the evening and asking for Grissom. "Do you have an appointment to see him? "  
  
The girl got even more nervous and she wrung her hands a bit ~ I hope he lets me in, because I wasn't told to have an appointment, I was just told to come at 6:30. ~ "No, but I think he's expecting me, he told me to come at 6:30."  
  
The guard looked her over, she looked nervous but not suspicious, so he grabbed a visitor's badge and held it out to her, "Alright miss, take this, clip it in a visible spot and go in. To get to Grissom's office you need to go down this hallway, take a left and go three doors past the DNA lab, that's his office."  
  
She took the visitor badge and clipped it to her breast pocket and flashed the guard a quick smile, "Thanks a lot."  
  
Greg was working on Grissom's DNA from the previous night's case while singing along to The Who's Pinball Wizard. The test was almost done, and as he looked up from his computer he saw an amazing looking young woman. He couldn't see much of her face because she looked straight ahead the whole time she was passing his door, but he could see that she had shoulder length dark blonde hair and a medium fair complexion. What was startling to him was her choice of clothing; she was wearing a black men's tuxedo shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows over a dark red tank top, he continued looking down her body to see a straight, dark denim skirt that came to right above her knees with a slight slit in the front, the skirt was secured by a black belt with silver studs. The topper came at the very bottom of her ensemble; she was wearing low top Chuck Taylor's (Converse All-Stars) with red ribbon laces. ~ Damn, why do all the good looking ones have to be either criminals or distraught witnesses. Too bad my new partner's a man; this lab could use some more estrogen, especially Greg- friendly estrogen. ~  
  
Grissom was sitting in his office looking over some case files remembering the significance of each case and the part it had played in the lives of his crew when he heard a knock at his office door. "Come in."  
  
The young girl slowly opened the door and stepped into the room, "Mr. Grissom."  
  
Grissom looked up at the young woman who had just walked into his office and stood up, "Yes, how can I help you."  
  
The girl started to fidget a bit again, and Grissom noticed that she seemed nervous about something, "Well, I'm Anna Spiegel..."  
  
She looked at Grissom like he was supposed to recognize her but all she got was a blank stare. She started to get that feeling in the pit of her stomach that a person only gets when they've been royally embarrassed. She barely could get out the rest of her statement, "I'm here for my first day of work."  
  
Grissom looked at the Anna girl with a very confused frown, ~ Who is this kid, and why does she think that she has a job here. ~ "Excuse me?"  
  
Anna's face fell, she thought she had gotten the job, but maybe it was all a very mean figment of her imagination. She tried to explain what she thought she was there for in hopes to salvage her possible job, "I'm your new Forensic Biologist from KU. You told me to be here at 6:30 pm on Tuesday..."  
  
"I know when I told the new lab tech to come, but the new lab tech is a male, and his name is Christopher Spiegel, and I'm sorry miss, but you don't look too much like a Christopher."  
  
Anna's face got even redder than it had earlier, this is something that got her all the time, and it was so hard to explain to even the most intelligent, open-minded people, "Actually... Well... Umm Uh... This is kinda embarrassing, but I really am a Christopher."  
  
Grissom looked quite shocked at this statement from the young woman, ~ She can't be serious, because that's just silly, and she told me her name was Anna. ~ But the look on Anna's face told him otherwise, "You're serious aren't you."  
  
"Yep, I have a story though. See, my parents wanted a boy and a girl, and my sister came first so check girl off of the list, but then the glitch came in and I was born. My parents were...disappointed...and they thought it would be a nice idea to honor the son that they never had by naming me Anna Christopher Spiegel. Has a nice ring doesn't it."  
  
Grissom noticed that Anna seemed to fly through her speech, like she had done it millions of times. He pretty much believe her after that, because her story was so out there that it couldn't be made up, but he wanted to see some proof before he completely believed her story, "Can I see your license please?"  
  
Anna looked quite relieved, she was out of hot water and cruising for dry land, "Here it is sir, my brand new Nevada, state approved, not Missouri, not Kansas license."  
  
Grissom took the slip of plastic from her outstretched arm and looked hard at the picture, then back at Anna, then at the picture, then back at Anna. Finally he looked satisfied, and he handed her back her license, "Welcome to the team Miss Spiegel."  
  
Wow, that chapter's long compared to number one. I hope you enjoy it; it took a long time to think up.  
  
Hey, KU is a number 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hoorah!  
  
Hey, please review and tell me what you think, and what could make this story better. I promise more Greg soon, she has to be worked into the team first.  
  
Bye. 


	3. Chapter 3

Hi ya'll! I'm sooooo sorry for not updating sooner. I'm a bad, bad kid. I've been so completely busy. For the past two weeks I have gotten an average of 5 hours of sleep a night. But I am back and I have not forgotten you.  
  
I would like to thank my strong but few faithful fans. I hope that you continue to read and enjoy my story.  
  
There are some issues that I would like to clear up from the last chapter, like why Anna's papers don't have Anna on them. That issue will be addressed in the coming chapter. Thank you Kathryn for pointing this mistake out to me. (Oh, and Kath, I heart Batboy as well. Just a Three- Bedroom House. Hehe)  
  
All right...all of the normal disclaimers apply, and the rating still doesn't but I promise that it will.  
  
On with the story... (As a special treat, this will be a super long chapter)  
  
Greg was bored as hell. He was sitting in his lab finishing up the latest batch of tests that were dumped on his desk. He let his mind wander to the girl he saw earlier, ~ She looked like a fun girl...too bad I won't meet her...she was really cute...Wait, why am I thinking about mystery girl...I need to get out of this lab ~. Greg stood up and shook his head quite violently. He didn't notice, but Nick and Warrick were walking past the lab at the same time and saw him. They just looked at each other and chuckled. Meanwhile, Greg decided that he needed to do something. So he picked up the recently printed results and went out to deliver them personally to the lucky CSIs who needed results.  
  
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About five seconds after Greg left the lab Grissom and Anna walked in. Grissom needed to show her the environment that she would be working in and hopefully introduce her to her new partner. ~ Where is Greg? I mean I know that he is scatterbrained sometimes, but I told his that I would be bringing in his new partner about now.~ "Well, this is the lab. You'll have a partner, but he seems to be AWOL right now. Anyway...".  
  
Anna listened intently to all that Grissom told her while she was looking around the lab. It looked like the words were just going in one ear and out of the other, but Anna was a bit different from most people. She had a recordable mind, it's kind of like a photographic memory, but she could tape conversations in her head and recall them later in perfect word order with every detail. So, when Grissom looked at her with his weird look that she would get to know so well she had the perfect response. "Yeah, I'm listening."  
  
~Who is this kid, she's looking around and not even paying attention to me. She is acting like a teenager; well two can play this game. ~ "Ok then, what did I say?" Grissom looked at her with the smuggest look in the world because he figured that he had caught her lying.  
  
Anna just looked at him with the blankest look, which made Grissom smile even more, but then she recited his whole spiel back to him word for word. Then it was her turn for the smug smile.  
  
"Alright, I've seen and heard a lot of things in my career, but that was amazing. How did you do that?" Grissom now stood stuck in his spot with the most confused face ever. He may have been used to things being odd or disturbing, but this was the weirdest thing that he had ever heard and he wanted to know how it had happened.  
  
Anna just looked at him, shook her head, and let out a small laugh. "Mr. Grissom, I know that you're not going to believe this, well actually with all of your experience with odd things you might, but I have a recordable mind. It's kind of like a photographic memory, but with words. I can remember almost every conversation that I have ever had and cared to remember word for word in perfect detail. It's an interesting gift."  
  
"You are just a surprise wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a question in a tuxedo shirt and converse low tops." (I know, very uncharacteristic Grissom line, but I like it.) Grissom just shook his head and went on explaining the lab. "Now, this is a Stereo Microscope, but I'm sure you have seen one of those before. This is a ...What..." A very puzzled Grissom turns to look at a stunned Anna who has just erupted with an "OH MY GOD".  
  
"You have a Polarized Light Microscope! I've always wanted to use one of those, but my college didn't have one. I get to use this...Oh wow, I have to call my mom, I have to call my old professors, I have to call...uh...umm...well, I have to call somebody! This is really exciting, you have no idea how exciting this is!"  
  
Grissom just stared; he was absolutely stunned that a 25-year-old woman could be jumping up and down at the prospect of using a microscope. ~She must really love science... She'll fit right in.~  
  
It's at this moment that Greg just happens to come back. He turns the corner in the hall and hears a girl yelling excitably about...a microscope? ~To each his own.~ He walks into the lab to see the girl from the hall that he would never see again bopping up and down on her toes and rambling on about how she gets to use the PLM. He looked back and forth between her and Grissom until Grissom turned around and noticed Greg. As Grissom turned so does Anna, and as she turned she got as red as her shoelaces.  
  
Greg tries to hold back a laugh, just barely succeeding, "Grissom, who's this?"  
  
Grissom looks at his watch at a sly smile works its way onto his face, "Well Greg, since you weren't here at 6:30 like I told you to be you'll have to wait. Now go and get everyone else into the break room if you please."  
  
Greg gave Grissom a glare and turned to comply with his given task. Grissom just smiled and then he turned to Anna and watched her turn away in embarrassment. "Anna, it's alright that you're excited about the PLM. You might even get to use it tonight, because I bet that you have read extensively on how to use one." Anna brightened noticeably at this, and she nodded enthusiastically, because she actually had sat in her dorm room reading the manual to a PLM and she had then continued on to tell her friends about it in excruciating detail. To put it bluntly they weren't very happy friends. "We're going to head into the break room so that you can meet the team. Don't be surprised if they don't know who you are or if they ask you the same questions that I did. You know, because your name is not very common."  
  
Anna just let out one of her little laughs, "Yeah, I'm used to it. Most people are at least mildly stunned by my name, so don't worry about it."  
  
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Greg was running throughout the office popping his head in and out of doors yelling at anyone and everyone to come to the break room because Grissom said so. "NICK...CATH...WARRICK...SARA.........ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO, COME TO THE BREAK ROOM TO MEET...SOMEONE!"  
  
The team slowly filed out of their respective rooms from doing their respective duties. Nick who was working on two hours of sleep due to a super long shift was dragging a bit. Greg saw this and, being his normally boppy self, he went to Nick and tried to get him to wake up, "Hey Nick buddy, what's up, how are you, you look a bit down, can I do anything to help..."  
  
Nick looked up at Greg with an amused stare and cut him off, "Hey Greggo, yeah I'm fine, I'm just running on fumes you know."  
  
"Oh, I got it, but there's someone Grissom wants us to meet, so come on wake up."  
  
"Got it dude, I'm well on my way."  
  
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Grissom looked at his watch and turned to Anna, "It's time to go and meet the team; are you ready?"  
  
Anna, who was just calming back down from the PLM incident and was finally turning the normal human shade of peach, shook her head, "As ready as I'll ever be."  
  
And thus ends chapter 3, sorry again for the wait, the next chapter will come along soon.  
  
Thanks Hoogs 


	4. Chapter 4

Oh my god. I am so insanely sorry for the long wait. My Internet has been down for the past week and a half, and I have been so incredibly busy. But, now the end of the excuses, I hope that my faithful readers will continue to faithfully read, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for enjoying the things that I write and thinking that I am worthwhile.  
  
New addition. This is still a Greg and Anna story, but it will contain a very strong Nick and Anna friendship. Also, I will be using some CSI storylines that I will tweak at my own discretion to how I like them so that Anna fits in, sorry if you don't like it. The storylines do still belong to the writers and creators of CSI. The rest of the storylines will be my own.  
  
All the normal disclaimers apply, the rating still doesn't, but patience is a virtue.  
  
On with the story...Enjoy!  
  
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The whole team had assembled themselves in the breakroom and was talking quietly amongst themselves.  
  
"Hey Rick, what do you thing of Texas' chance at the championship this year?"  
  
"Nick, I honestly have no idea, do you think that I would pay that much attention to Texas basketball? I am more of a Duke man myself."  
  
"Cath, how's Lindsay doing? I know that she just had a birthday and everything."  
  
"She's doing just fine Sarah, thanks for asking. She really loved the Barbie that you got her."  
  
During all of the conversations Greg had gone to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup of his beloved Blue Hawaiian and think. ~Okay, there was THE girl in the lab with Grissom. I am getting a new partner. My partner is a boy. Why was the girl there, and why did Grissom want us all to meet her?~ (I know, he is being completely oblivious and stupid, but oh well)  
  
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Grissom was getting ready to take Anna to the break room, he looked her over one last time and opened the door.  
  
...Everyone stopped their conversations and stared straight at Anna. ~Holy shit, did I do something wrong? Is there toothpaste on my shirt, stains on my skirt, lettuce in my teeth, did I step in dog poop? Can't they just stop staring?!?~ So, she came up with the best response to the stares that she could, "Umm...Hi."  
  
Grissom saw that this was a disaster in the making so he did what he does best, he took charge of the situation. "Everyone, this is our new team member, Anna. She is a forensic biologist, so she will be working with all of the plant and animal matter that comes through the lab, she will also help Greg with his extra assignments. Anna can also do some fieldwork due to the fact that in Kansas she did some fieldwork during her internship, and I have figured that a Kansas Level 1 works out to approximately a Las Vegas Level ½."  
  
The team still had moderately blank looks on their faces, and Anna was starting to regain her pinkish tinge when Greg spoke up, "I thought that you said that my partner was going to be a guy?"  
  
Grissom nodded, "I did say that, it's because the office forgot to put Anna's first name on the on her papers."  
  
This time it was Sarah who spoke up, her tone had gotten a bit rude now that she had found out that a new woman would be on the team, "Are you telling us that her middle name is Christopher?"  
  
Anna finally decided that this would be as good a time as any to pipe up, "Yeah, it is." Now the fading stares came back full force, and Anna looked down to the floor to try and hide the pink tinge that was now turning a full on red. It had been a long time since she had dealt with a group of people on the name subject, there was normally just one or two people to explain it to. She could feel their eyes boring into her, and it almost burned. "Well...uhhh...you see...my parents..." She couldn't even get the explanation out of her mouth. Grissom's confused and questioning stare was hard enough, but now there were five pairs of eyes staring at her.  
  
Grissom could see that the embarrassment was taking its toll on Anna, so he was going to tell everyone her explanation, but she stopped him at his "Well..." The look in her eyes said that she had to tell these people by herself, because she didn't want to look weak in front of them.  
  
"Well, yeah, my middle name is Christopher. My parents wanted a boy, but they got me instead, so in memory of the boy they never got they named me Anna Christopher Spiegel. Has a nice ring to it doesn't."  
  
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Greg was paying attention the whole time, mostly, well kind of, ok so he heard a word here and there. The only time he really listened was the beginning and when Anna spoke. He could repeat everything that she said. This fact was accentuated by the fact that he continually looked her up and down. ~Wow, she looks really cool. I mean what other girl wears stuff like that. Her outfit just screams punk, from the Chucks to the black wristband to the black tux shirt. AMAZING!!! Could my day get any better?~  
  
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Anna had just finished her little speech, and was trying to gauge everyone's reaction to the story that they just had to take in. Most of the team just looked stunned and were looking down at the floor, but there was one guy who was looking intently at her, and when she looked at him their eyes locked for a split second before he turned away. ~That's the guy that popped into the lab when I was putting on that wonderful PLM show. What was his name? G..G..Greg? Yeah, Greg. He looks like an interesting guy. I like the hair.~  
  
Grissom looked approvingly over at Anna and decided to continue on with the introductions. "Anna, this is the night shift. We work from 6 o'clock every evening until 7 in the morning. Well, that's when shift ends. Most of us do some extra work during the day, help day shift, or work multiple shifts in a row. Nick here has just worked a 20-hour shift. So, now you know what you're getting into. Now, come on guys, come and be social." Grissom waved the team over to meet Anna.  
  
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The first person to make it over to Anna was Catherine. "Hi my name is Catherine Willows," she reached out to shake Anna's hand, "but everyone just calls me Cath. I'm a CSI level 3, so I usually visit the lab quite often to drop things off and pick things up. It's very nice to have you on the team."  
  
Anna smiled, the warm welcome was extremely nice after all of the surprised stares. "Thank you Catherine, it's nice to meet you."  
  
The next person over was Sara, "Sara Sidle, CSI level 3. Welcome to the team." Sara wasn't very enthused to have Anna on the team, and her little greeting was said in a quick monotone.  
  
The monotone didn't deter Anna, she was getting happier to have people accept her, "It's very nice to meet you Miss Sidle." Sara nodded and walked off. ~Wow, frosty exterior. Maybe she's just very protective of her job?~  
  
As Anna was lost in thought Warrick walked up, "Hi, Warrick Brown, some people just call me Rick, whatever you want to call me, it doesn't matter. I'm a CSI level 3 as well. Thanks for joining the team, Greggo needs all the help he can get."  
  
"Thanks Warrick, that's why I'm here, to help people." Warrick and Anna shared a mutual grin and then he moved on to go talk to Catherine.  
  
Just then Nick came up, "Hi, name's Nick Stokes, CSI level 3. Nice to meet ya."  
  
Anna looked at him with a thoughtful look on her face, "Anna, nice to meet you as well. You're from Texas aren't you."  
  
Nick looked at the girl in front of him. What she had said wasn't a question, it was a statement. She had figured out that he was from Texas and he had only said two sentences to her. "Whoa, how did you figure that out so fast?"  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but I used to act, and I was always the one who was good with accents. I could pick out the idiosyncrasies in the way that you talk and I figured southern, and then I narrowed it to Texas. I couldn't tell you which part of Texas though." "Wow, well I can tell that it's going to fun working with you Kansas." Nick chuckled and gave that boyish grin as her mouth opened in an unbelieving smile.  
  
"I've only been here for thirty minutes, and I already have a nickname! Does this mean that you are going to be calling me Kansas all of the time?"  
  
Nick got a sly look on his face, "Maybe, maybe not. Ha ha!" Nick laughed as she shoved him off toward Warrick and Cath. ~I can tell that she is going to be a fun one to work with. She's really easy to talk to, we need that around here.~  
  
The last person to get to Anna was Greg. He looked down at the floor, fidgeted, and then straightened his lab coat. "Hi, I'm Greg. We'll be partners from now on." With that he flashed his goofy grin and plopped his hand out for her to shake.  
  
Anna couldn't help but smile, "Hi Greg, I'm Anna. I don't think that I will have any problems adjusting with you and Nick around."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, you both look like fun easygoing guys that are just easy to hang out and talk with. One thing we might have a problem with though. What kind of music do you listen to?"  
  
"Oh, I was thinking the same thing. I like rock, metal, punk, alternative, classic rock, anything like that."  
  
Anna smiled in relief, "Great, I listen to the same thing, except for metal, but we can work past that. Do you like any classical?"  
  
With that the two of them started to walk out of the break room and toward the lab. Grissom had to lean out the door to tell Greg to make sure that Anna could find everything and that there wouldn't be any problems, and to make sure that Anna could get her id badge.  
  
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Well there you go, one extremely belated chapter. That was longer than I thought it would be. Well, I hope you like it, and I am going to load this at school, so I hope it works. I hope that my Internet starts to work soon so that I can post new chapters faster. In the next chapter Anna finds out about her first case, and her and Nick will bond. Oh, and there will of course be plenty of Greg. Be patient my friends, the lovin' will come soon.  
  
Thanks again for being patient Hoogs 


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, if you are reading this then you are a very dedicated reader because I have been the worst writer ever by not updating. I'm really really sorry, and I'll try to write more. It's just that the motivation is not there as much as it was before.

So, here we go…The rating is still for later chapters. This chapter will get some Nick and Anna friendship, and there might be some spoilers as well.

"So, what's your favorite…food?"

Anna gave Greg a sarcastic look, "food…oh…uh…sushi. I really like sushi. How about you?"

"I like pizza and meatball subs…mmmm." Greg leaned back, rubbing his stomach with a dreamy look on his face.

"Alright, you have some odd fantasies. So, what is there to do around here?"

"Well, there are some cases that the crew is working on, but the DNA and trace stuff has already been done. We've been a bit slow for the past few weeks."

"Well, what do you do for fun around here?"

"I listen to music and play games on the internet, but now I have you to talk to. This is the most none scientific conversation I've had with a crew member for a long time."

They sat and smiled at one another for a second, and then Grissom stuck his head in and ruined the mood.

"Hey Greg, I need to borrow Anna from you for awhile. We have a new case, and there are a lot of organics that need to be processed, but many of them need to be collected in the field by a trained hand."

"Whoa, you're sending me out in the field for my first case here. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, I've heard good things about you and we really need someone who knows the types of trees and the chemistry of the earth."

Greg sat there during this whole thing and his mouth dropped. "Wait…why…but, but…I don't get to go into the field."

Grissom looked at him, "Well, this is a forensic biology thing not a chemistry thing. I'm sorry, Greg, but you've gone into the field before."

"Oh, ok…I guess I'll just stay here then." He looked down at his feet and sighed a bit.

Anna looked at Grissom and then at Greg and mouthed "I'm sorry" before she walked sadly out of the door.

"So…what am I going to be doing exactly?" Anna asked Grissom as they walked through the lab.

"Well, you are going to the crime scene where a young girl was murdered; I was told it looked like human sacrifice."

"Uhhhhh…human sacrifice…wonderful…who am I going with?"

"You'll be working with Nick on this one. He's been out to the scene once before and he can prep you on it." With that Grissom led Anna into the break room where Nick was waiting.

"Hey, Kansas, are you ready for your first scene?"

"Well, I guess so. I mean do I have any other choice?"

"No, not really. Okay, so the body was found at the edge of Layton Road, but there were leaves on it that didn't belong to any trees in the area."

Anna looked at him and realized that they might have to go on a wild goose chase for the specific trees they needed. Nick saw the look on her face and hurriedly explained the situation. "Before you got here we identified the type of tree the leaves come from, but do you think you could tell which tree they come from by sight?"

"Probably. I am trained in that sort of stuff."

"I bet you $10 that you can't do it."

"Oh yeah? I'll take that bet. You are about to lose $10 big boy."

Nick dug into his kit and retrieved four different labeled baggies that contained four different specimens of leaves. "Here you are. Go for it."

Anna stared at the leaves on the break room table for about 30 seconds before she knew all the different leaves. "Well, the first one is Birch, the second is California Oak, the third is actually a fern called the Maiden Hair Fern, and the last is from a Japanese Plum tree. You thought you had me with the fern didn't you."

"Damn, I did."

"I didn't know that the Japanese Plum grew in Nevada. That's the key right there. Follow me."

Anna led Nick back into the lab where a computer had been set up in a corner where she had her database of trees and of their locations in Nevada according to forest rangers. She sat down in the chair and entered her password to the database and entered in Japanese Plum and then it was time to wait for the results.

Nick looked pretty perplexed, "You mean this is all we have to do know. We just have to enter the tree into your database and wait for locations?"

"That's about it…results are in…there are three different places where Japanese Plums grow anywhere in a 50 mile radius from where the body was found; lucky for us they're all within 10 miles of one another."

"Wow...can you get us a map of the three areas and then we can go?"

"Yeah, it'll be here…now. I just have to go out to my car and change into some jeans."

"Sounds good, meet me at my Tahoe in 5."

Anna headed out the door and to her car; Nick was close behind her. It turned out that Nick's Tahoe was parked 3 cars down from Anna's Ford Contour. He noticed it quickly, but she was too busy getting her jeans out of her backseat to see him. Nick, being the guy he is hid behind the other car and watched tried not to make a sound. He didn't really think twice about it. It wasn't like he was trying to be a pervert or anything, but he's a boy and he had a chance to see a girl in her underwear. By this time Anna had found her jeans and had successfully pulled off her skirt and was now standing in black lacy string bikini underwear trying to get her jeans on over her shoes. Nick watched her finally get the jeans over her Chuck Taylor's and slid them up her slim legs and let the garment end its journey and land below her slim waist. While Anna was getting her belt on Nick tried to pretend that he was getting something from his trunk the whole time and he also tried to lower his heart-rate.

Anna had finished putting on her belt and headed over to Nick's Tahoe. "Alright, Nick are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Nick and Anna got into the Tahoe, backed out of the spot, and headed to the first area containing Japanese Plum trees. On the ride over they talked about where they had both come from and why they were both in Vegas.

"Well, I was born in Texas and grew up in a very sheltered family. My mother loved to coddle me and make sure that I always had everything, because I am the baby of the family."

"Hmm…Let's see. I was born in Topeka, Kansas and my parents were really open when I grew up. I have one younger sister and I have had a job since the age of 16 so that I could pay for my amenities."

"Wow, I didn't have to get a job until college."

"Well, that's what happens when mommy and daddy pay for everything."

"Hey, hey, hey…they didn't pay for everything. They didn't pay for…uhh…I paid for my own food sometimes. Yeah, like when I went to a restaurant with my friends sometimes."

"Oooo…big boy paid for his IHOP. Congratulations. I paid for a good portion of my clothes, some shoes, a lot of food, and most importantly my own gas."

"Well, that's how life works sometimes. Sorry, I don't mean to sound all snobby. My parents are just a bit more well off than others."

"It's no big deal. I come from a city near one of the richest counties in the country."

As Nick and Anna were talking they reached the first area of trees that they needed to investigate.

Nick hopped out and gestured for Anna to do the same. "Well, here we go."

Sorry for the delay kids, I really didn't mean for it to be this long of a break between chapters. Sorry if this one sucks.

Hoogs


End file.
